Cachar (Assam) [India], April 16 (ANI): Assam Police arrested seven people in connection with an incident during the protest rally against the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Assam's Cachar district recently.

Numal Mahatta, Superintendent of Police of Cachar district, said that on April 13 at about 09:30 am, about 300 persons assembled at Berenga village under Silchar police station and began a march towards Silchar town to protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Act.

'A police team from Silchar police station, along with all GOs, arrived at the spot to stop the mob from proceeding further and resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the crowd. The mob has been dispersed, and regarding the incident, a case was filed in the Silchar police station. Last night, an operation was conducted in the Bagadahar and Kashipur area under the Silchar police station, and 7 accused persons primarily involved in the incident were picked up. They have been duly arrested and forwarded to judicial custody,' Numal Mahatta said.

The arrested persons were identified as Nazmul Islam Laskar alias Kablu, Bidar Laskar, Rohit Hussain Laskar, Dilwar Hussain, Rohit Ahmed Mazumder, Atikur Rahman Laskar and Riyajul Laskar.

Further investigation into this incident is ongoing.

On April 14, Superintendent of Police of Cachar Numal Mahtta said that the protest by the people was taken out without obtaining prior permission.

'The Model Code of Conduct is enforced in view of Panchayat polls, and without prior permission, they took out the protest rally. When we received the information, we reached the spot and dispersed the crowd. Some of them tried to create a law and order situation, but we brought the situation under control,' Numal Mahatta said.

'If anyone tries to violate the law, we are ready to take stern action against them. Now the situation is under control. We have registered a case. We have deployed security forces in this area to maintain the law and order situation,' he added.

Since its passing, the bill has faced several legal challenges in the Supreme Court, with AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress MPs Mohammad Jawed and Imran Pratapgarhi, AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, and Azad Samaj Party chief and MP Chandra Shekhar Azad moving the court against the act.

The Act seeks to focus on improving the management of waqf properties, empowering relevant stakeholders, improving the efficiency of survey, registration, and case disposal processes, and developing waqf properties. (ANI)